The Mating Process
by Kuronohime
Summary: Based on the Disney adaptation. Tarzan has a lot to learn about human courtship. And the bashful queen of the jungle is apprehensive about showing him the way. So, will nature take its own course? Jane/Tarzan. Oneshot.


It was the crack of dawn. Rays of light peeked through the gaps between the wall planks. A narrow beam reached Jane's face and warmed her cheek. She groaned somnolently and turned her face away from the light. However, a steady rumble of snoring from the other side of the room kept her from falling back asleep.

She sighed and groggily scrabbled at the blanket. She whisked it back and her petite body clad in pyjamas was exposed to the morning air. She shivered and slogged over to the wardrobe. She pulled out a dressing gown that was actually more like a scruffy patchwork quilt. It was made from old and tattered pieces of shirts, dresses and whatnot. Jane was rather handy at many things, but needlework wasn't her forte.

After she had clad herself behind a makeshift screen she walked out of the tree cottage to the small deck at the entrance. She rubbed her weary face and thought about how she missed caffeine.

It had been three months since she and her father had made their home to the small hut atop the trees, in middle of the deepest jungle of Africa. The hut had originally belonged to the late Lord and Lady Greystoke. The parents of Tarzan.

Now it had become the home for Jane and her father. The hut, however, was in dire need of some fixing up. It annoyed Jane to her wits' end to be awoken so early each morning by that damned sunlight. She hadn't been too pleased to find a tarantula in the cupboard couple weeks ago either. All kinds of creepy crawlies found their way in through the cracks on the walls and floor.

Jane, out of old habits, tried to cover her yawn with her hand and pulled a shawl tighter around her shoulders.

Tarzan spent his nights with his pack. Even though Jane was his "mate", he was the pack leader and couldn't abandon his duties. Especially now that Kerchack was gone and had entrusted Tarzan with the responsibility of leading all the other gorillas. Jane understood this and Tarzan knew that, although Jane was becoming more and more accustomed to the jungle way of life, she was not ready to live in the shrubs.

So, all in all, both were pleased with their current living arrangements. Albeit, it had put some restrictions to the development of their relationship. As they had yet to consummate their marriage. Jane often felt more like a companion to Tarzan than a wife.

She sourly gazed at a young parakeet couple that canoodled on a perch of a tree. The male gloriously spread its wings of crimson and jade in attempt to woo the female. In the meanwhile the human female let out a silent sniffle. Tarzan was plenty charming without even trying, but now and then Jane missed being courted and wooed. Sure, her jungle savage occasionally brought her flowers, but what came to the matters of the bodily needs, Tarzan had expressed little interest to such trivial things.

In fact, her husband had never expressed any kind of interest in the act what so ever. He had a more practical way of viewing mating. It was solely for reproductive purposes. And there had been no talks of their future offspring yet. Moreover, in the social structure of gorillas, it is the female that initiates the mating act when she's fertile. Unfortunately Jane was a bashful woman with no first hand knowledge about the _human _sex life to speak of. So she was most hesitant about teaching such things to Tarzan. Let alone try and seduce him to act on her own desires.

They were at a standoff. And Jane simply wished that nature would take its course with Tarzan. If it wouldn't, she feared she would end up ravishing a chlorocebus.

* * *

><p>Jane was wading her way through all the puckerbrush on her way to bring Tarzan some lunch she had prepared. It was turning out to be an especially humid and hot day and she was constantly fighting off wet curls of hair from her face.<p>

God, how she needed a new pair of shoes. She would have moved about without such had she not still been shaken by a recent incidence with a poisonous reptilia.

After a few hours of laborious hiking, Jane finally traced the pack that was currently retired to a secluded area in the mountains. Mother gorillas were feeding their infants and some of the older males were engaging themselves in recreation by dangling off tree perches and throwing twigs and moss at each other.

Jane dodged a half eaten mango and halted to wipe her face with a white handkerchief until she spotted a young female gorilla with a nervous-looking red elephant. She neatly folded the hankie away and walked over to them.

As she approached them, she chewed on her bottom lip and tried to recall what the word for "_where_" in gorilla was. She cleared her throat.

"Ah, Terk, Tantor, good day to you. Umm… Oh, how did one phrase it… _Ugg ugg agh_? I believe it was?"

Jane was no expert on facial expressions of gorillas, but Terk looked mostly amused at her attempt to communicate in their language.

"_Agg Ugg ah_?" Jane tried again.

The female gorilla simply rolled her eyes and turned to say something to Tantor. If Jane was not mistaken, the phrase included words "human" and "simpleton".

"Uh, I brought some lunch for Tarzan. Umm… _Ugg aa agh_."

Terk curiously snatched her basket full of food and rummaged through the contents. Jane tried to protest, but Terk was already offering Tantor some fresh nuts and munching away a kiwi Jane had peeled open.

"_Augh, huu huu Ugg_." Terk said with kiwi juice dripping down her chin.

"Tarzan is what?" Jane mused aloud and added in gorilla, "_Ugg ah_?"

Terk seemed to take a deep sigh and swallowed down the rest of the kiwi.

"_Ugg_." The gorilla stated. Then she made munching gestures and pointed at the edge of the mountain where the jungle grew thicker.

"Ah, I see" Jane answered feeling rather let down. Tarzan had already gone to get food. So basically she had fifteen blisters on her feet all for nothing.

She tried to swallow down the hard lump of disappointment in her throat and turned to leave. Terk and Tantor paid little attention to her when they had the picnic basket she had left behind for them to marvel.

* * *

><p>Jane stormed through the undergrowth of the jungle and slapped away wines and leaves that were on her way. She didn't own a machete, because she was a stern believer in the integrity of the untouched nature, but at that moment she would have gladly steamrolled through every bush and tree in her sight.<p>

In her indignantness Jane didn't pay much attention to where she was walking until her boot caught to a wine and pulled her back suddenly. She lost her balance and fell on her behind straight into a fresh pile of baboon waste.

"Whaaa-!" She screamed as she landed on her bottom. Jane took a moment to grasp the situation and tilted back her signature safari hat that had slipped down to conceal her view. She clenched her small hands into fists and scrambled up from the ground. She examined the damages the fall had caused to her attire. Most of the backside of her dress was coated with loose primate excrement and she simply wrinkled her nose at the offending sight.

She leaned forward to inspect the state of her boots that peeked out from under the hem of her dress. They were also covered in the said substance. Jane let out a suppressed cry of frustration and stomped further. She angrily kicked off her boots, all the snakes be damned, and left them behind. As she walked, she proceeded to rid herself of the soiled garments. She ripped open the strings on the back of the dress. Jane threaded herself out of the dress and threw it in the bushes. Along with her safari hat.

She didn't know how far she had walked in just her petticoat, but it felt oddly freeing. And the cool grass to her feet felt rather pleasant.

Leaves rustled somewhere near and Jane halted. '_Bloody Hell, I really ought to get me a machete_.' She thought. Her eyes darted to tree branches and rocks. Anything she could weaponize herself with.

But the concerns about her lack of armature proved to be futile when a dark, handsome wildman dropped down from the trees. His dark dreadlocks swayed untamed in the hot breeze.

"Jane," the man spoke softly and walked towards her, "you came to see me."

Jane leered at Tarzan with her chin up. He was glistening with perspiration and his muscular chest was heaving with the rhythm of his breath. "Well, yes, and now I will be taking my leave."

She stomped pass him and Tarzan looked her receding back with befuddlement. "Jane?" Tarzan dashed after her with the agility of a man who had lived his entire life in the jungle. "Did Tarzan do something wrong?"

Jane stopped so unexpectedly that Tarzan took a misstep and almost toppled over his own feet. He re-composured himself and turned his big green eyes at Jane who was in turn giving him a stern look.

"When exactly are you going to act like my husband?" She abruptly asked. Tarzan was busy observing her current attire and didn't have the time to reply when Jane already continued her angry outburst.

"I came to bring you food, but you had gone off to your own whereabouts. And I, in my opinion, very rightfully so, got upset and left. You are constantly on your own adventures when you are not guarding your pack. I just… It's been a fortnight since you last slept home! I scarcely see you. I am your lawful wife and I do have needs as well! I... I..." Jane traced off, unable to continue as she felt how her cheeks were starting to glow.

Tarzan frowned and lifted his arms to her shoulders. "Why Jane not talk about this sooner?"

Jane shook his hands off her. "Because you're never there to listen! And on the occasion you are, you don't truly understand."

Tarzan cocked his head and those childish eyes of his studied her. "What, Jane?"

She tried to stutter out what she had though about nights on end. "That I… I…"

When the words faded on her lips, she simply did what she had done the day she had decided her home was in Africa, with Tarzan. She kissed him with a fervour that was almost unfamiliar to herself.

She compressed her chest against his and wrapped her arms around him. The anger inside her was washed away by a feeling that was intense and scorching. It both scared and fascinated her.

She suddenly pulled herself away as if taken aback by her own behaviour. When she looked at her wildman, she saw that Tarzan's eyes that had lost the childish shimmer.

"I think I know what Jane means." Tarzan breathed out.

Jane needed not to say anything. Her husband picked her up and carried her deeper into the jungle. To a secret paradise that was lost on her for she did not see the lavish scenery that basked in the soft emerald glow. She only saw his eyes.

And in the midst of the tangled growth of vines, in the shadows of great old trees, Tarzan held Jane.

For a long time, the only noise besides the rustle of the leaves under them was Tarzan's laboured breath. Jane inhaled sharply and let out a broken sigh. Her long, silky hair stuck to her face and Tarzan leaned on both of his elbows to wipe her sweaty brow. He locked his eyes into hers and something old and intuitive compelled the man to watch her face and the variation of emotions that trailed on her features. It urged him on. It was also something he had never seen any members of his pack do. The apes were capable of being fierce and gentle, but the satisfaction he got from simply looking at Jane had to be purely human.

He kept watching her even though Jane tried to hide her face to the crook of his neck. When her sweet heave of sigh caressed his ear - he was finally abandoned to something wonderful.

* * *

><p>Jane and Tarzan lay on a bed of exotic flowers, without as much as a simple thread on their bodies, and the rays of the setting sun fought its way to the eyes of Jane. She blinked rapidly at the offending light and nudged at Tarzan. "Dear, you simply must fix the cracks on the walls."<p>

Tarzan frowned.

**FiN**

A/N: Yup, this was long due for posting, but since I haven't updated my other stories for a while, I decided to buy some time by putting this out. :D But seriously. I'm working 65 hours per week by average at this moment, so it's a sheer miracle I even managed to get this much out. But all you who are following my unfinished fics, bear with me for 5 weeks so that I can be done with my internship! Then I'll have a whole month to slack off and write!**  
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